Prepare to have your pants scared off with January and February’s mix of best tunes, featuring brand new music from horror maestro John Carpenter, The Duke of Burgundy’s soundtrack for a sado-masochistic relationship between two lesbian entomologists and the theme to It Follows, a film that features the best horror movie score since… well… since John Carpenter first took to his trusty synth in the late 70s.

Oh hi. I didn’t see you there. How did you get in? I’m sure I bolted the door. Well never mind all that now, being as you’re already here you might as well get comfortable. Anything to drink? Something to nibble on? Ah heck, you know where everything is, go help yourself. Welcome to Popdin’s round-up of the best new album releases we didn't quite get around to reviewing this month.

As we all know, there are only three different types of people in the world. Those who prefer Carl Barat to Pete Doherty, those who prefer Pete Doherty to having anything resembling common sense, and those who would choose a nice long trepanning over having to listen to another second of music from either Barat, Doherty or The Libertines.

Do you remember Idlewild? I remember Idlewild. My friend Jo certainly remembers Idlewild. I used to listen to Hope is Important non-stop when I was a teenager, and being as I was the only one of us who had a car, I would drive me and Jo to college playing ‘When I Argue I See Shapes’ all the way there. It drove him crazy. He hated it possibly for the same reasons I loved it. The repetitiveness, the wilfully abstract lyrics, Roddy Woomble’s strangulated yelp, the punky bastardisation of REM’s best early work.

The hype around Charli XCX's debut album True Romance did little to help it chart-wise, limping to number 85 upon release. In the days of very few major label second chances (and therefore second albums) Bishop's Stortford's finest managed to attach herself creatively to two of the biggest pop singles in recent times: Icona Pop's 'I Love It' and Iggy Azalea's 'Fancy'. Indeed it's as a writer that XCX continues to be in demand, with a contribution to Gwen Stefani's forthcoming solo album in the pipeline.

Tigercats are a band from just around the corner from my flat in East London, and not to sound too much like a crazy person but it’s like living around the corner from Foo Fighters or some other untouchable stadium rock band such is my adoration of them. If I saw Tigercats in the corner shop I’d probably burst into tears immediately, drop to my knees and scream barely comprehensible praise at them through the snot and tears. I'm sure it would be just as mortifying for them as it would be for me. It’s like living on a knife-edge every time we run out of loo roll.

Easily mistaken for part of the controversial and mysterious PC Music Collective, Japanese/English trio Kero Kero Bonito recently got the nod from synth geek Victoria Hesketh (aka Little Boots) as being ones to watch.

Although born in Swabia to a German mother, it’s difficult to imagine anything more identifiably Scottish than Alasdair Roberts’s music. It’s even more Scottish than… well, I was going to say something like The Krankies riding Nessie whilst eating a deep fried Mars Bars, but I don’t want to offend my friend Scottish friends (okay friend) so I won’t.

In fact it’s also compulsory for every Alasdair Roberts review to mention that
"you can almost smell the heather" so I may as well get that out of the way here too.